High-yield smart fish farming ship undocks in East China

BEIJING -- China's first 100,000-tonnage smart fish farming ship completed its undocking and launching successfully in the eastern city of Qingdao, after nearly 400 days of construction.

The ship, coded as Conson No 1, has a length of 249.9 meters and a width of 45 meters. It was designed to carry out aquaculture operations, according to the China Science Daily.

With a water body displacement of 130,000 tons, the vessel has 15 farming cabins providing 80,000 cubic meters of water for high-end commercial fish such as large yellow croakers, which are expected to produce 3,700 tons a year.

Starting in December 2020, the ship construction was initiated by the Qingdao Conson Development Group, an investor in the construction project, and jointly developed by major Chinese shipbuilders and research institutes.

A total of 50 such ships are expected to be built to form a deep-sea aquaculture industrial chain with an annual output of over 200,000 tons of high-value fish worth more than 11 billion yuan ($1.73 billion), said the company.